07/06/2026
THE MOMENT OF TRUTH
BY EMMANUEL ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA
TOPIC: RESEMBLING JESUS CHRIST
GOLDEN TEXT: JOHN 13:15
OTHER REFERENCES: Galatians 4:12, Ephesians 5:1-2, I Corinthians 11:1, I John 2:6, Philippians 2:5, Acts 11:26
Many times we sing songs, we sing hymns and read the Bible without giving serious thoughts to what we sing and to what we read and solemnly consider the import of the message they are passing to us.
One of the notable examples is a popular Christian hymn, "I want to be like Jesus." The hymn was written by a songwriter, Eden Reeder Latta (1839-1915) which he got through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is one of the most popular hymns in the Christendom and still very relevant and evergreen.
One of the major features that usually result from birth is resemblance. It is very common to see children resembling their parents and siblings resembling one another by face, complexion, voice, hair, body frame, body odor, style of walking and other physiological and anatomical features. Children also sometimes resemble their parents in character.
When children share very striking resemblance with their parents, there may be no need for DNA test to ascertain their paternity because "the facts speak for themselves." Resemblance even makes some parents to love children that share such a quality with them.
As Christians, Jesus Christ is our model, He is our example. He possesses qualities that we must emulate to make us have a rewarding Christian life and race, to enjoy better relationship with others and to serve as good examples to others.
We have some people who see successful individuals as their role models and mentors. They seek to be like them and try to achieve what their role models had achieved. It is not out of place for Christians to aspire to be like Christ by copying His character, qualities and virtues.
We must look unto Him because He is the author and finisher of our faith. He never fails, He never disappoints and He is a person that we can count on in whom we will never find disappointment. Jesus Christ is worthy of being emulated and we must share resemblance with Him.
The name "Christian" was first given to followers of Christ in the city of Antioch in those days because they resembled Jesus Christ in attitude, character, relationship with people around them, disposition to others, in ministering to the needs of others and doing noble things that Jesus Christ did.
VIRTUES THAT MAKE US RESEMBLE JESUS CHRIST
1. HOLINESS: Jesus Christ was a model of holiness and He wants we Christians to be holy in thoughts, in speech, in dressing, in conduct, in our relationship with fellow human beings and in our service to God. His command for us was captured I Peter 1:16, "Be ye holy as I am Holy." Remember, without holiness, we cannot make heaven.
2. LOVE: Jesus Christ commands us to love fellow human beings like He himself loved and still loves mankind. It was His love for you and I that made Him to accept the painful decision to go to the cross to die for our sins. As a Christian, you must follow Jesus Christ's teaching that you must love others as yourself. He showed love to us, we must show love to others not only by words but by our actions.
3. HUMILITY: Another area we must learn to resemble Jesus Christ is in the area of humility. We must wear humility on ourselves like clothes and it must be in our nature. Jesus Christ cast off His divine glory and brought himself low to our level for Him to accomplish the work of salvation. He was looking for sinners to preach to them, he sat with them and ate with them. He slept where his disciples slept, he wore what they wore and ate what they ate. Why are we having pride, swollen ego and arrogance among Christians today? High positions, academic attainment, prestigious titles, physical beauty and societal accomplishments should not make us proud and look down on others. He who humbles himself shall be exalted and he who exalts himself shall be abased.
4. PRAYER: We need to emulate Jesus Christ in prayers. Jesus Christ was not only a prayer warrior, He was a prayer champion. The Bible tells us that he would withdraw himself to solitary places and would pray and pray and pray for hours and days despite possessing very awesome divine powers to do what He wanted to do without any prayer. As children, we must resemble our father in prayer and we must not be lazy in prayer. You call yourself a Christian and you find it difficult to pray alone and when you come to the church you will be sleeping during prayer session. Why won't witches and demons oppress you? It's high time we woke up from our slumber and take prayer very seriously. It is a power a Christian must not joke with.
5. STUDYING THE WORD OF GOD: The Word of God occupied a paramount place in the heart and mind of Jesus Christ. Even though he was the Word and still the Word, He was always studying the Scriptures. This He did right from when He was a little child when He would stay back in the Synagogue to study the Word, ask questions from the Rabbis and offered explanations on issues in the Scriptures. We need to emulate His unquenchable thirst for the Word for us to grow spiritually and mature in faith. It is a pity that many Christians today are bereft and empty of the Word which makes them to be suffering from "spiritual kwashiorkor." Christians, be filled with the knowledge of the Word so as not to be deceived in this end time.
6. FORGIVENESS: This is a virtue that is difficult to exhibit for many today but no matter how difficult it may be, we need to practise it to resemble Jesus Christ and for us to inherit the kingdom of God. Unforgiveness will not allow your prayer to be answered. Jesus Christ demonstrated forgiveness by restoring the ear of Marcus which was cut off by Peter during His arrest. Jesus Christ famously said in the Lord's Prayer, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us..." Remember Jesus Christ's teaching on 70x7 which means "unlimited forgiveness." Forgiveness must flow from spouse to spouse, parent to children, among fellow workers, fellow students, fellow worshippers, neighbours and everybody we come in contact with.
7. COMPASSION: Jesus Christ was full of compassion and He demonstrated this many times during His public ministry. It was compassion that made Him to weep when He learnt that Lazarus had died; it was compassion that made Him to heal the sick, the lame, the blind, the demon-possessed, the mentally-deranged, the woman with hemorrhage and to raise people from the dead. As Christians, we must show compassion to others, sinners who need mercy of God, people suffering, the needy and the less-privileged and individuals needing our help.
8. SELF-CONTROL/TEMPERANCE: In many instances, Jesus Christ exercised self-control in the face of provocation. At the time He supposed to curse, abuse and react negatively, He kept His cool. He controlled his tongue, emotions and temper and nobody can refer to any negative words spoken by Him. Let us work towards this and pray for the grace to exhibit this virtue.
9. TRUTHFULNESS: Jesus Christ stood by the truth and defended the truth throughout His time on this earth. He never shied away from saying the truth and He never allowed falsehood, deceit and deception. He wants us to resemble Him by loving the truth, saying the truth and living the truth. Truth is an important currency a child of God must possess to radiate the light of Christ and to enjoy the trust of men.
10. DOING GOOD TO OTHERS: The Bible records it that Jesus Christ went about doing good to others and we must resemble Him in this area. As Christians, we must do good to people we know and people we don't know and God will definitely reward the good we do to them. We must do good to fellow Christians, non-Christians and humanity at large. Through that we may win them to Christ and into the kingdom of God.
